He began his career in September 1967 after he graduated from Tianjin University as a major of Hydraulic Engineering.

He successively served as mayor of Yueyang, Hunan Province, secretary of the Yueyang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), executive vice-governor of Hunan Province, and deputy secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee.

In February 1999, Chu was elected governor of Hunan at the Second Session of the Ninth Hunan Provincial People's Congress.

Since August 2001, he has been working as a member, a standing committee member and secretary of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee.

He was delegate to the 13th CPC National Congress and is an alternative member of the 15th CPC Central Committee. He was deputy to the Eighth National People's Congress (NPC) and is deputy to the Ninth NPC.